Index-tab



R. H. WELCH.

Index Tab.

No. 231,202. Patented Aug. 17, 1880.

Inventor'.

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N. PETERS, FHOTO-IJTHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON D C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

REUEL H. WELCH, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

INDEX-TAB.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,202, dated August 1'7, 1880. Application filed February 20, 1880.

To all lwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, REUEL H. WELCH, of St. Louis, Missouri, have made anew and use ful Improvement in Index-Tabs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference bein g had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a view of a portion of a leaf having the improved tab attached; Fig. 2, an edge view of the tab; Fig. 3, a similar view, the tab being closed upon and attached to a leaf; Fig. 4, a side view of the tab; Fig. 5, a section taken on the line w x of Fig. 4; Fig. 6, a face view of the form of letter used upon the tab; and Fig. 7, an edge view of the letter, showing the prongs folded.

The same letters denote the same parts.

Index-tabs as hitherto made are objectionable in that the printed letters thereon become effaced or indistinot from use. It is also inconvenient to attach the tabs evenly to the leaves, the exact positions of the tabs not being indicated or determined by any mark or shoulder upon the tabs. To obviate the difficulties named, and to provide a durable tab, readilyT attached to the leaf, is the aim of this improvement.

It consists partly in the combination of a metallic letter with a leathern tab, and partly in the means by which a shoulder is formed upon the tab, and the position of the latter upon the leafl thereby fixed.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the base of the improved tab, consisting of the portion a, which projects from the edge b of the leaf B, and the portions a a', which are upon the leaf, the portion c being narrower than the portions a. a', as shown in Figs. 1, 4, 5. Metallic letters C G, by means of the prongs c c, are attached to the part a, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4,' 5.

The base A. is of leather, and in making the tab the leather A is folded at its center, bringing the two parts a2 a? of the portion a together, and inclosing the folded prongs c c ofthe letter C C, as shown in Figs. 2, 5. The parts a2 a2 are glued and pressed closely together; but to prevent the portions a' a from being gummed together, and also to prevent the edge of the leaf B from entering between the folds a2 a2 when the tab is attached to the leaf, a lining, a, consisting of a strip of cloth, is gunimed to the inner face of the parts q. a', as shown in Fig. 2, and this strip a4 is that part ofthe tab which comes immediately in contact with the leaf B, as shown in Figs. 1, 3.

The tab is manufactured as an article of merchandise, in the form shown in Figs. 2, 4, 5. In att-aching it, the tab is slipped onto the leaf until the edge b of the leaf abuts against the shoulder a3, formed at the junction of the parts a a', and by means of the gum upon the face of the strip a4 the tab is secured to the leaf, as shown in Fig. l. The strip a4 is preferably made to project from the inner edges of the parts a a', as in Figs. 2, 4.

The metallic letters become brighter from use, and any torsional strain upon the part a. is, by reason of the wider parts a' a', not communicated to the leaf.

l claim--- 1. An index-tab having metallic letters, for the purpose described.

2. The combination of the parts a and a a and the strip a4, substantially as described.

3. As a new manufacture, the leathern base A, metallic letters C O, and strip a4 combined, substantially as described.

Witness my hand this 16th day of February,

REUEL H. WELCH. Witnesses:

CRAs. D. MOODY, SAME. S. BOYD. 

